Importance of Opium Alkaloids of Papaveraceae Family in Iran

Torkian, Fatemeh; Saadati, Fariba; Kheiry, Azizollah; Zamani, Abbasali

doi:10.22034/jmpb.2024.364461.1640

Importance of Opium Alkaloids of Papaveraceae Family in Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Zanjan, torkianf@gmail.com, Zanjan, Iran

² Department of Horticultural Sciences, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

³ Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

10.22034/jmpb.2024.364461.1640

Abstract

The Papaveraceae family comprises more than 40 genera and 760 species. Papaver alkaloids have significant therapeutic importance in the treatment of various diseases and exhibit some antimicrobial properties. These alkaloids have been used in cancer medicine, cough, and hypertension. The main goal of this study is to determine the amounts of various alkaloids in samples collected from different regions of Iran. The findings of this research could provide valuable insights for the pharmaceutical industry. Two grams of dried and powdered plant material were extracted with 30 ml chloroform and 15 ml of 99% acetic acid for 30 minutes under sonication. The change in the pH of the sample was revealed by 10 through gradually adding ammonia. The mobile phases consisted of phosphoric acid and acetonitrile.
The analysis of the Papaveraceae family in Iran was performed using high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection. This paper focuses on the Papaver alkaloids (noscapine, morphine, thebaine, papaverine, and codeine) found in three species of Papaver and four species of Glaucium. The maximum contents of noscapine (21.02 mg kg-1 DW), morphine (34.51 mg kg-1 DW), thebaine (6.96 mg kg-1 DW), papaverine (103.76 mg kg-1 DW), and codeine (3.63 mg kg-1 DW) were reported in P. rhoeas, P. fugax, G. oxylobum, G. oxylobum, and P. fugax, respectively.

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